Back For You
by likecominghome
Summary: Stiles is going away for the summer and Lydia is going to miss him more than she's willing to admit.


_Baby, you don't have to worry. I'll be coming back for you. _

The party is in full swing by the time she arrives. Clutching the strap of her purse tightly in her fist, she scans her eyes over the crowd in search of the host. Her gaze finds him naturally, almost as though he has some sort of magnetic pull over her. But as she watches him squint his eyes closed and throw his head back laughing, she realizes that perhaps he always has.

He's dressed in plaid, of course, the light blue color that makes him look as though he's glowing. His long fingers are wrapped the base of a beer bottle, which he brings slowly to his lips, his eyes twinkling as he keeps his gaze on the person to his front. She sucks in a breath and chews on her bottom lip as she watches his lips curve over the top of the bottle and his hand lift to tilt the liquid into his mouth.

She isn't entirely sure how he makes drinking look sexy, but she does know that she's never in her life wanted to be a beer bottle more than at this exact moment.

Shaking her head, she breathes deeply to regain her composure and weaves her way through the crowd towards him.

She's actually a little surprised by the amount of people present. But then, she supposes she shouldn't be; very few people would pass up free alcohol.

He'd told everyone that it was an end of school/beginning of summer bash, intended to celebrate their newfound freedom at the beginning of their last summer before college. But she knows the truth: he's saying goodbye.

At long last, the countless sleepless nights of worry and near death experiences had taken a toll on his mental health. He needs to get away from the madness, so he's spending the summer backpacking through Europe.

And as much as she hates to admit it, she's going to miss him. She's gotten used to him showing up at her house at odd hours of the night, rambling on about some new creature that's on the loose.

They'd even gotten in the habit of spending time together when it wasn't required, studying for their exams together after school. He is extremely intelligent, irritatingly so, in fact. But those smarts serve as a good sounding board while she studies and it's nice to have conversations about deeper topics with someone who appreciates doing so. Conversations involving mythology that aren't concerned with life or death situations.

She comes to a stop at his side just as he finishes telling Scott some inane sounding story about the last criminal his father arrested.

He turns to her as though he can sense her presence, a trait she's acquired in regards to him as well.

"Lydia!" his eyes widen in excitement. "I'm so glad you could make it!"

He stretches his lips into _that _smile; the one he only reserves for her. It's not as wide as the one he uses when he's absolutely carefree and his lips aren't as kinked as with the one he uses when he wants something from someone. It's a smile all its own, utterly indescribable and having the ability to cause her stomach to erupt with butterflies.

"Of course," she replies breathily. "There's free alcohol."

Rolling his eyes, he laughs good naturedly as he leans to down to wrap his arms around her for a quick embrace. He pulls away a little too quickly for her liking and she mentally scolds herself for having that thought. The last thing she needs is to convince herself that it would perfectly alright to ruin the friendship she'd built with Stiles.

"Well," she replies brightly, doing her best to hide her flushed cheeks and pounding heart. "I'm far too sober, so I'm going to go find myself a drink and mingle. I will see you around."

He nods, watching as she turns on her heel and heads towards the table where the drinks are located. She spends the next hour being a social butterfly until she decides that she's had much too much small talk for one evening and needs some fresh air.

So she creeps past the couple locking lips on the stairs and wanders down the upstairs hallway until she finds Stiles's room. Taking a deep breath, she pushes open the door, shutting it quickly behind her to drown out the lively chatter below.

The room looks exactly the same as the last time she'd been in it a few weeks before. They had been studying for the advanced placement exams. She remembers because she had been entirely captivated by the way Stiles's lips wrapped around the cap of his pen and sucked thoughtfully. She remembers because she had watched him with bated breath, silently wishing his lips and tongue would replicate those exact movements on a very specific part of her body.

Sighing, she plops down on the end of the bed, the corners of her lips lifting slightly at the sight of the Stanford poster proudly taped on the wall in front of the desk. They'll both be attending there in the fall. Lydia for mathematics, of course, and Stiles for…well, he isn't quite sure yet because he hasn't found a subject that can hold his interest for long enough.

Sighing softly again, she leans back on the bed, only to sit up straight once more when the door is pushed open and Stiles pokes his head into the room.

"There you are!" he exclaims. "Someone said they saw you come upstairs. What are you doing in here?"

She shrugs. "It was getting a little claustrophobic downstairs."

"Understandable," he grins, stepping inside the room and closing the door to mute the sounds of the party. He sits down on the bed beside her, close enough that she can smell his body wash, but far enough away that she has no reason to accidentally touch him.

"Having fun?" she says lightly.

"Yeah," he replies. "I think everyone really needed this. It's been a rough year."

"And you? Did you need it?"

He lets out a long breath, reaching up a hand to tug at his already messy hair. "That's why I'm going away. It'll be nice to go to a place without werewolves and people constantly trying to kill the people I care about."

"I'm almost positive they have werewolves in other parts of the world," she laughs.

"Yeah, but they won't have any sort of personal vendetta against me, and that's a plus."

Laughing she nods and he grins at her, his eyes twinkling lightly. They both lay back onto the bed, their heads hitting the comforter with a soft thud.

There's silence for a few minutes and she stares at the ceiling, her heart rate increasing with each passing second. She feels him shift and she turns her head to see that he's propped himself up on an elbow, his gaze serious.

"I'm gonna miss you, you know," he says quietly.

It's exactly what she wants to hear and exactly what she wants to say, but she can't quite put it into words, so she lifts her lips into a small smile and nods. "I know."

It's only three months, she keeps telling herself. Nothing's going to change.

But she knows she's just deluding herself because she's lived in Beacon Hills long enough to know that three months can change everything.

He holds her gaze for a moment longer, his eyes swirling with an emotion she can't quite place until he sighs and sits up. "Come on, we should get back out there."

Nodding, she sits up as well, but she stops him before he reaches the door. "Stiles?"

He hums as he turns to face her, raising an eyebrow.

She feels as though she's lost her voice. She knows exactly the conversation this situation would normally entail, but saying those words out loud is daunting. Perhaps because they would finally be spoken and it would make their relationship, well, defined.

So instead, she pushes herself from the bed, takes two quick strides across the room, and finally gives into the urge she's been fighting since the beginning of the school year, when she'd first come to the realization that Stiles was, in fact, an extremely attractive human being. Placing a palm on either cheek, she pulls his lips downwards and kisses him firmly.

He's frozen at first, much like the first time she'd planted her lips on him without warning, but this time he reacts much quicker. His hands squeeze her hips before his arms wrap around her waist and pull her close to deepen the kiss.

She should have known that Stiles would be good at this, that he would kiss her with such passion that for a moment she would forget that there was a world outside of him and her and being wrapped in each other's arms.

She stares at him when they pull apart, her breathing haggard and her heart pounding. Parting her lips, she makes to say something, but then realizes that it's unnecessary. There's no need to explain, because Stiles understands. Stiles has always understood.

He's gazing at her with so much adoration that she momentarily forgets how to breathe.

"Have fun, alright?" she says quietly.

He nods, his arms dropping from her waist and leaving her feeling cold. "I will."

Reaching past him, she pulls open the door before grabbing his hand and tugging him into the hallway. Just one kiss is all they needed to say a proper goodbye.

She's confident it won't ruin the nature of their relationship, but that doesn't mean she isn't looking forward to many repeats of that moment - preferably for extended periods of time - when Stiles returns.


End file.
